An American Airlines passenger travelling from Pensacola, Florida, to Miami, was taken into custody after she allegedly faked a medical condition to get a bigger seat on the plane, NBC News reported.
According to the report, the flight was diverted after taking off from Pensacola International Airport . The pilot said that the plane was being diverted for a state of emergency as a woman complained of troubled breathing.
"On Friday, American Eagle flight 3508 returned to Pensacola due to a passenger who requested medical assistance," American Airlines said in a statement to PEOPLE regarding their regional carrier. "All passengers deplaned normally at the gate through the main boarding door and onto the jet bridge. The passenger was subsequently removed by law enforcement and medical personnel, and the flight took off again at 7:41 a.m."
According to NBC News, authorities arrived at the scene after the plane landed. The woman admitted she had made up the medical condition in order to get a better seat. The woman refused to get off the plane at first, but was eventually forced to leave the aircraft.
The woman was taken into custody under Baker Act, which allows a person with a mental illness to be involuntarily institutionalized in a mental health treatment facility for up to 72 hours, Mike Wood, a spokesman for the Pensacola Police Department, told USA Today.
